While I had trouble finding this book (Darn you Ben/Dan for holding on to it for so long *angry face*), it was well worth the find. Mistborn book one, and the two other books in the series, is a delight to read. The author, Brandon Sanderson creates a wonderful world with captivating characters and a deep plot. In this book, the main character, Vin is recruited by a group of rebels lead by a man named Keliser in an attempt to overthrow their dictator, the Lord Ruler. Here she will learn to trust others, work in a team, and expand her knowledge about her special powers to burn metals for various effects, known as allomancy. Vin is also a special type of allomancer, a mistborn (Hey book title!) a powerful allomancer that can burn all metals for all their effects.

One of this books best things is the vast, expansive, and detailed settings. Each setting is described with an expert eye, from a simple minor ballroom, to the vast main city, Luthandel, itself. The book dosen’t even leave a single empty detail, describing everything from the color of the plants in a garden to how the mist in the area swirls in the light. The book lets you see every tiny thing in the area you are reading about, from the elaborate ballrooms, the poor, beaten down city, the strange, exotic gardens, and the vast elegant castle of the Lord Ruler.

This book sets up series quite well (AKA: read this book before any of Ben’s books, because they’re all after the events of this book -_-, also sorry Ben, but it’s true) with the characters motives and lives being documented quite well, Sanderson builds up the characters with morals and goals, yet also simultaneously kills them off and makes their lives go crashing down, as seen from many moments of the story, like an argument between Keliser and Vin over her later-to-be-husband Elend over his love for her: “‘I didn’t tell you this so we could get him killed, Kelsier!’ she said. ‘ I thought, maybe… well, he’s reading forbidden books, and he seems like a good man. Maybe we could use him as am ally or something.’ Oh, child, Kelsier thought. I hope he doesn’t hurt you too much when he discards you. You should know better than this. ‘Don’t count on it,’ he said out loud. ‘Lord Elend might be reading a forbidden book, but that doesn’t make him our friend. There have always been nobleman like him-young philosophers and dreamers who think that their ideas are new. They like to drink with their friends and grumble about the Lord Ruler; but, in their hearts, they’re still noblemen. They’ll never overthrow the establishment.’ ‘But-‘ (Sanderson 325). Here we see that Vin and Keliser have opposing views on noblemen. While Vin thinks that not all of them are bad, Keliser thinks that all of them are like vermin, evil and greedy. This shows us the morals and ideas of these characters, and how they clash with each other.

So while I may have bored you with that overly long quote, I hope you do give the first book in the Mistborn trilogy, Mistborn, a chance and discover a world that will captivate you and make you realize that you spent half of your day just reading this book. And, of course, I still have another half to read, so adieu!

One response to “Mistborn, Book 1”

So, here is my second review of this wonderful book in which I will give it a full on review and add some criticism. Also, before I begin, I must say that this second part will most likely be much more shorter than the previous review, cause the book really retains most of what I said their and doesn’t add much else.

So, First is the story, which while captivating, is very similar to other dystopia novels, and while it uses its own take and style, still shows its use of dystopia cliches and flaws. Other than that however, the story is REALLY good and is one of the best dystopia stories to date.

Other than that, I only have a few minor nitpicks to the story. One such nitpick is the books absurd length of 657 pages, which I believe is a little to much. Secondly, I fell like the ending is too… forced, I would go into details, but that would ruin the climax. Finally, the book is… TOO DARN GOOD! When I got it I couldn’t put it down and wasted around a day just to read it.

Sooo,,, overall I give this book 9.5/10 stars and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read about an amazing fantasy sci-fy dystopia